Upper Intermediate English
CEFR B2 • Upper Intermediate • Passive, reported, perfect tenses
What is CEFR B2?
B2 (Upper Intermediate) is the fourth CEFR level. At B2, you can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in your field of specialization. You can interact with native speakers with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction possible without strain for either party. You can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue.
By the end of B2, you should be able to: use the passive voice naturally, report what others have said, handle all perfect tenses, distinguish gerunds from infinitives, and link complex ideas with advanced connectors.
Lesson 1: The Passive Voice
The passive voice is used when the action is more important than the person doing it, or when we don't know who did it.
Form
Pattern: Subject + be (correct tense) + past participle (+ by agent)
Active: Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.
Passive: Hamlet was written by Shakespeare.
Passive in Different Tenses
| Tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | They make cars. | Cars are made. |
| Present Continuous | They are making cars. | Cars are being made. |
| Past Simple | They made cars. | Cars were made. |
| Past Continuous | They were making cars. | Cars were being made. |
| Present Perfect | They have made cars. | Cars have been made. |
| Past Perfect | They had made cars. | Cars had been made. |
| Future (will) | They will make cars. | Cars will be made. |
| Modal | They must make cars. | Cars must be made. |
When to Use the Passive
- Unknown agent: "My wallet was stolen." (we don't know who)
- Obvious agent: "He was arrested last night." (obviously by the police)
- Focus on action: "The bridge was built in 1890." (who built it isn't important)
- Formal/academic writing: "The experiment was conducted in controlled conditions."
- News reports: "Three people were injured in the accident."
Lesson 2: Reported Speech
When we report what someone said, we usually shift the tense "one step back" in the past.
Tense Shifts
| Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
|---|---|
| "I am tired." | She said (that) she was tired. |
| "I work here." | He said he worked there. |
| "I am working." | She said she was working. |
| "I have finished." | He said he had finished. |
| "I saw it." | She said she had seen it. |
| "I will go." | He said he would go. |
| "I can help." | She said she could help. |
Reporting Questions
Yes/No questions: Use "if" or "whether"
Direct: "Do you like coffee?"
Reported: She asked me if I liked coffee.
Wh- questions: Use the question word (no auxiliary, normal word order)
Direct: "Where do you live?"
Reported: He asked where I lived.
Time and Place Changes
| Direct | Reported |
|---|---|
| today | that day |
| tomorrow | the next day / the following day |
| yesterday | the day before / the previous day |
| now | then / at that moment |
| this / these | that / those |
| here | there |
Lesson 3: Perfect Tenses Mastery
Present Perfect vs. Past Simple
Present Perfect: Connects past to present. Unfinished time periods.
— "I have lived here for 5 years." (still living here)
— "She has visited Paris three times." (in her life, which isn't over)
Past Simple: Finished action at a specific past time.
— "I lived in Madrid for 5 years." (not anymore)
— "She visited Paris last summer." (specific time)
Present Perfect Continuous
Form: have/has + been + verb-ing
Use: Emphasizes the duration of an ongoing action.
— "I've been studying English for three hours." (still going on)
— "She's been working at the hospital since 2020."
— "They look tired. They've been running." (recent activity with visible result)
Past Perfect
Form: had + past participle
Use: An action that happened before another past action (past before past).
— "When I arrived, they had already left." (they left BEFORE I arrived)
— "She had never seen snow before she moved to Canada."
— "I was hungry because I hadn't eaten all day."
Lesson 4: Gerunds vs. Infinitives
Choosing between -ing and to + verb is one of the trickiest parts of English. Some verbs take one, some the other, and some both (with different meanings).
Verbs Followed by Gerunds (-ing)
Common verbs: enjoy, avoid, finish, keep, mind, suggest, consider, imagine, deny, miss, practice, admit, recommend, postpone
Examples:
- "I enjoy reading historical novels."
- "She avoided answering the question."
- "They finished painting the room at 6pm."
- "Would you mind closing the window?"
Verbs Followed by Infinitives (to + verb)
Common verbs: want, need, decide, hope, plan, promise, agree, offer, refuse, manage, expect, afford, learn, seem, pretend
Examples:
- "I want to learn Italian."
- "We decided to stay home."
- "She promised to help me."
- "They refused to pay the bill."
Verbs with Both (Different Meanings)
remember:
— "I remember locking the door." (I locked it, and I remember the action)
— "Remember to lock the door." (Don't forget to do it)
stop:
— "He stopped smoking." (He quit the habit)
— "He stopped to smoke." (He paused what he was doing in order to smoke)
try:
— "Try opening the window." (experiment — see if it helps)
— "Try to open the window." (attempt a difficult action)
Lesson 5: Advanced Connectors
Connectors link ideas and make your writing sound more sophisticated.
| Purpose | Connectors | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Contrast | however, nevertheless, although, despite, in spite of | It was raining; however, we went out. |
| Cause | because, since, as, due to, owing to | The flight was cancelled due to fog. |
| Result | therefore, consequently, as a result, thus | He overslept; as a result, he missed the train. |
| Addition | moreover, furthermore, in addition, besides | The food is great. Moreover, the service is excellent. |
| Example | for instance, for example, such as, namely | Many sports, such as tennis and golf, require equipment. |
| Summary | in conclusion, to sum up, overall, in short | In conclusion, exercise is essential for health. |